Grounded PIA plane to fly back from Malaysia after settlement of lease dispute

The grounded national flag carrier Boeing 777 is all set to fly back to the country as Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Malaysian Authorities agreed on specific terms.

According to the details, PIA and Peregrine Aviation Charlie Limited leasing firm company settled the case outside the court, a PIA spokesperson said today.

The Malaysian court has set aside the case after both parties reached the agreement.  Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan already said that the PIA and the firm have agreed on an out-of-court settlement for the PIA plane seized at the Kuala Lumpur Airport on a Malaysian court’s orders.

Malaysian authorities seized the Boeing 777 aircraft on Jan 15 after a court allowed an application by the plane’s grantor company, the Peregrine Aviation Charlie Limited, to keep it grounded after an amount of $14 million was pending.

The Kuala Lumpur High Court ordered the immediate release of the plane after both sides said they had reached an amicable settlement to the lease dispute, involving two planes leased to PIA, according to a lawyer representing the airline.

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“Peregrine has agreed to withdraw its suit against PIAC (Pakistan International Airlines Corp) and for the injunction orders to be set aside,” said PIA counsel Kwan Will Sen.

“With this, the two Boeing aircraft operated by PIAC would be released with immediate effect.”

The two jets were leased to PIA by Dublin-based AerCap , the world’s largest aircraft lessor, in 2015. They are part of a portfolio that AerCap sold to Peregrine Aviation Co Ltd, an investment unit of NCB Capital, the brokerage arm of National Commercial Bank SJSC, in 2018.